Fear Cuts Like A Blade - Tiffany Bauer (most read books of all time txt) 📗

getting started with my life. There were so many wonderful exciting things I had left to do.
I hadn't even figured out the answer to Ms. Benlry's question. Maybe I'd never be able to give her a direct answer. Maybe I'd never even make it out of this ally, let alone make it home. Memories and regrets flooded me.
All the things I never said. Everything I had planned to do. The places I wanted to go to. It all seemed so......far away. As if I was in a whole different dimension. A new era of time. I was going to die.
And no one would know. Maybe no one would even care. JJ and Kate might, but I disappeared all the time. It'd be forever before they realized I was gone, not out of their lives for just for a little while, but forever. Tears pricked my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away.
No. I would not die tonight. If it came down to it I would fight. But really, how long would I last against two ex-marines. They could still be in the marine corps. They might not even be Marines. They could quite possibly be special forces or Navy Seals or Green Berets.
They were getting closer with every second's pass. Twenty feet..........fifteen feet...........ten feet........nine feet.......eight feet......seven feet........six feet. Moving quicker and quicker with each step as if they somehow knew right where I was. As if they knew I was trapped, caged by my own makings.
An intense uneasiness entered my stomach, subtle at first until it grew to a prioritize recurring pain. Fear pushed to the surface making my palms clammy and my face, I'm sure of it, a deathly pale.
My dirty blonde hair was dark compared to my skin, seemingly giving me the impression of a vampire from Twilight. Time seemed to stop as they crept closer, assurance in their eyes and a grim set to their lips.
The one on the right, with vibrant green eyes and sandy blonde hair, looked to the other, with dark brown hair and almost black eyes, as if asking permission. Oh no. Not good. Brown Eyes gave a curt nod and leveled his gun at my cover.
My breath hitched at the sudden screeching sound that came from in front of me. A nail sticking out of the wooden crate scratched against the wood that lay beneath. My muscles reacted without command, tensing at first, then, with shock and survival instincts taking over completely, jumped into action.
Instantly I flew back, hitting the back of my head hard on the wooden slats standing firm behind me. I fell back against the boxes that soon gave way under the weight. The somewhat neatly stacked pile was now in shambles, falling down on and around me in a heap.
The noisy ruckus startled Green Eyes making him instinctively jump back, but didn't even bother Brown Eyes. The nerve. I was scared speechless and he was acting like there wasn't a care in the world. As if this was just an everyday occurrence, which, for him, probably was.
My train of thought ceased to a halt as a sharp pain stabbed into my right leg, another in my left shoulder blade. The physical damage was nothing compared to the emotional torment. I was going to die. Tonight. At the hands of these crooks. There were better, more honorable ways to go than this. But I didn't want to go. I had so much more to do. So many plans to carry out. And now none of it would happen. I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye to my family. Not that it'd even matter to them. Even now, with so much time passed, the hatred they held that day would never fade. The insults flew from their lips like built up water in a dam. Almost as if they'd been waiting to let free the degrading comments.
And what about Kate and JJ? Kate, coming from an excessively dysfunctional family herself, knew where I was coming from. Her dad had walked out on her the day of her fourth birthday and even after so long the words he'd said still echoed in all our ears. We were just old enough to begin our childhood memories.
The first actual memory Kate could recall was of him throwing nothing less than a temper tantrum, as I was doing now, flailing my arms and legs about and screaming random things that came to mind. Song lyrics, yummy foods, funny captions I'd read on graphic Tees. You name it, I screamed it.
I think I even said Banana Cat once. The two weirdo's face contorted as if saying 'What the heck is wrong with you, crazy lady'. Guess I had that effect on people. Ha.
Green Eyes fumbled for my hands while Brown Eyes grabbled for my feet. Green Eyes' iron grip caught my wrists and held tightly, apparently not wanting to go through the routine again. Finally, after a bit of hostile moving and some colorful cursing, Brown Eyes latched onto both my ankles like vise grips.
I jerked around as they pulled up, clearing the ground by at least two feet, with ease. A look of boredom crossed Green Eyes' sharp features. "Will you shut up? It'd make this a lot easier for the both of us."
I opened my mouth to argue, a line of insults ready to fly at any given notice, thought better of it and snapped it shut. I might just take his advice. For now. I yanked and twisted, kicked and clawed, punched and smacked, but nothing worked.
My feet were still off the ground and the throbbing pain in my leg and shoulder had now become constant. Tears pricked my eyes, threatening to break through and embarrass me. Blinking hard I looked around at my surroundings trying to locate where I was or where they might be taking me.
Brown Eyes put both my ankles in one hand and reached behind him, pulling out a walkie-talkie from one of many pockets on his black cargo pants. I glared into the depthless shades of brown catching hints of black within.
A short crackle came from the walkie-talkie before Brown Eyes said flatly, "We got her. Bring the van around to Kin Kan. And hurry. She's feisty." Fiesty? FIESTY?! They were going to kill me, and he's calling me FIESTY?!?!
"Yeah, well you ain't seen feisty until somebody tries to steal my cookies. That's when I'm feisty." I muttered under my breath, still wiggling around like a five-year-old having a hissy fit. Which I guess wasn't far from the truth. In age, I was 19, in attitude I really did act like I was five. Sometimes even three.
Green Eyes looked down at me, an amused look on his features, his jaw clenched as if trying not to laugh. "What are you looking at, you overgrown Leprechaun!?" I yelled at him. He just broke into a fit of laughter. He actually had the guts to laugh. Now. Holding me above the ground against my will.
The boy was an idiot. That much could be concluded. Although, now that I thought about it, what I said was a bit hilarious. Even in the worst of times I still said some funny things. As if they couldn't care less about my struggling, they walked around the broken shards of wood and headed for Kin Kan street like no one would stop them. And perhaps no one wouldn't.
Olivia had looked terrified. She also said this was the third time in a matter of two weeks. A sick feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. I began tapping the fingers of my right hand on my left wrist right above the pulse. I was counting how many times I tapped, how many seconds went by, and how many steps they took. I needed to calm myself down before I went into a panic attack.
My mind was made for multitasking, with an Iadetic and photographic memory, the ability to remember every single little detail helped out a lot. "Stop that." Brown Eyes demanded calmly. My tapping had become a steady audible thump.
"I'm trying to calm down," I replied with a bossy smirk gracing my dry lips. " I don't think I want to stop yet so you'll just have to wait a while until I do." Two could play this 'completely calm and thinking clearly' game.
Walking, or floating would be a better term for me, up to Kin Kan street the low rumble of an engine drifted back to me. Help? Maybe they would stop! Two guys carrying one very uncooperative girl would look pretty freaking suspicious if you ask me.
The shiny black SUV rolled past without the slightest tap of the breaks. Just my luck. Coming to the end of the dark alley I checked my everything going on around me once again. I was so not even close to pro level, but seeing the exact same SUV parked not twenty feet from where we stood was obviously not good for me.
Backdoors on both sides slid open to reveal four more men in all black suits. Brown Eyes set my feet on the ground and exchanged my wrists from Green Eyes' hands to his own. Green Eyes trotted to the van and climbed inside.
Brown Eyes flipped me around so that my back faced him and urged me forward. Digging my shoes into the concrete I stood my ground. I was a Blade. And Blades absolutely did not break. Not even crack. Ever. No. Matter. What.
"Work with me here and it won't hurt so bad." Brown Eyes informed me. Noting the slight incline in his voice I slowly took a baby step towards the vehicle. Maybe a little fracture. Noticing the 8'' Fillet Knife on Brown Eyes left hip I focussed in on my breathing, blocking out all other activity going on around me.
Okay, I said to myself, I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I repeated over and over. With much effort, thanks to Brown Eyes strength, I pulled my hands together and tapped the fingers of my right hand on the wrist of my left arm.
Feeling my pulse was like an out-of-body experience. It was slow. It was calm. It was freaking me out. Should my heart rate be so steady? Shouldn't it be hovering right below stroke level? Shouldn't I be panicking? Shouldn't I be fighting against him? Against them?
The questions went on like a Nascar race, circling my mind like an endless track. Another step. Shouldn't I be worried? Shouldn't I scream for help until my throat's raw? Shouldn't I be making deals with God?
Third step, fourth step, fifth step...
What about Kate and JJ? What about my dad and brother? My other relatives? What about Dox, the husky Kate took care of? Or Frisky, JJ's beloved little kitten? What about Roman, my brother from another mother?
Sixth step, seventh step, eighth step...
The street lights above the SUV flickered on and off and on again, giving the scenery an eerie feel.
Ninth step, tenth step, eleventh step...
Coming to the open door of the cab I could see the inside had been stripped. No seats. No dome lights. No speakers. Nothing. Green Eyes stalked over, grabbed my shaking hands, and pulled me into the not-so-luxurious backseat.
Behind me, Brown Eyes slid closed the door and angled himself into the front passenger seat. Green Eyes guided me into the corner behind the driver's seat and pointed to the spot next to an unconscious, bound, and bloody Olivia.
I flopped onto the floor and rested my face in the crook of my bent knees.
"Bad day?" Green Eyes asked from across the cramped space.
Have you ever heard the phrase 'think before you speak'? Yeah, me neither. "I've only moved into an apartment in a new city, took a tour of my new neighborhood, been caught in a rainstorm, taken hostage in an armed robbery at a local bakery, and have now been kidnapped by the Three Stooges. No, not bad at all, you dipstick." I retorted smoothly.
"Now I